Political activist Glenn Gallas knows his group, Arkansans Against Big Government, has a daunting task ahead of it, but he’s confident they will succeed.

They need to collect 1,000 signatures a day for the next 56 days to meet their goal to qualify a referendum for the 2014 general election ballot to repeal the recently passed “private option.”

The health insurance plan passed by the 89th General Assembly allows Medicaid expansion money to be used to subsidize lower-income health plans in a forthcoming state-federal insurance exchange.

“We’re focusing on 37 specific counties. We have to get 15 in particular that have 3% of the vote, but we have right now to date over 165 canvassers all across the state,” Gallas said. “We have 25 separate Tea Parties, we have Republican chairmen, Republican committees, we have doctor groups and dental groups all behind us.”

The AABG group only needs 46,880 qualified signatures to make the ballot, but Gallas said they are aiming for 56,200 in order to have a buffer.

If the measure does qualify for the ballot, AABG will make a lot of noise in the 2014 general election, but Gallas said he views the private option as a significant issue in next year’s Republican primaries.

“My number one concern is to make sure that the people’s voice is heard on this,” Gallas said. “I think the people are being shortchanged. I think the people need to have their voice heard and that’s the most important thing.”